The Last Man on Earth

When a strong and powerful story is written and it grabs the imagination of the audience and just will not let go, its quite natural that it will be turned into a film. The short novel "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson was written in 1954 and has gone through three film transformations, The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man, and the Wil Smith film, I Am Legend. Even though all three follow the basic story this 1964 version is closest to the original book. With Vincent Price in the lead role, one of his best from the 60s, and the film shot in black and white the creepiness of the tale is enhanced
After a plague has wiped out the global population and turned them into vampires, one lone survivor fights to live and stave off insanity. With the way that the movie was shot you continually have the feeling that someone is watching you, with the dissertated streets and empty buildings you get the sense that there has to be somebody there. The only problem with the film is the use of the vampires, they act and respond more like zombies than vampires, not that it's a big issue but you'd think that the director and producers would have altered the creatures a little bit more. The one thing that is evident throughout the film are the social and political overtones, the idea of one man against the system, society being invaded from within and the militaristic quasi vampires certainly look like Fascist storm-troopers.
It's a breath of fresh air watching some of these old black and white horror films, more atmosphere than gore to carry the story. Also some of the sources that these stories came from were fresh, new and unexplored at the time, yet now they seem old hat since the ideas have been repeatedly rehashed over the years. That's not to say the newer versions of these stories aren't as good or that the older ones are campy and cheesy, its just that most of these films are a reflection of the times and film technology in that era. This is an enjoyable film to watch, with Price at his best and the strong story from Matheson it's well worth the time to find a copy and see for yourself.